


Sleepless in Sispocalypstar

by StutteryPrince



Series: Paradoxus Rex [4]
Category: The LEGO Movie (2014), The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)
Genre: Brotherly Love, Hot Chocolate, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, but they're there for each other, emmet and rex are both traumatized and deserve rest, they both have terrible nightmares and visions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 17:43:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19950280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StutteryPrince/pseuds/StutteryPrince
Summary: “So,” Rex said eventually, his voice unusually soft. “What was yours about? Same as last night?”“The one with my speeches failing, yeah,” Emmet muttered, gazing down into his mug. Rex knew there was more to it than that, but he didn’t push. “What about you?”Emmet wasn’t phased when Rex didn’t respond. He hadn’t even expected him to respond, if he was being honest. His counterpart was never one to talk about his nightmares, let alone his feelings in general, but just as he was about to actually start paying attention to the B-rate movie, he heard Rex speak up.“I was back in Dryar."





	Sleepless in Sispocalypstar

**Author's Note:**

> Another installment! This is the installment I've been hinting at on the blog for a long time, but only partly! Their visions and nightmares aren't done with them. Stay tuned!
> 
> There's an askblog for this series so you can talk to Rex while you for the next part: https://ask-paradoxus-rex.tumblr.com  
> Got questions about the series itself? You can ask me directly here: https://stutteryprince-difficuties.tumblr.com

_Rex’s eyes blinked open, a soft groan drifting from him. He grunted as he forced himself to sit up and hold his head in his hands, rubbing at his eyes as he tried to look around. Where was he…? Why was everything so dark? By the Man Upstairs, why did he feel so HEAVY? Like he couldn’t move at all unless he put effort into it. He managed to stagger to his feet with the grace of a drunken man and sloppily raised his hands to his mouth to call out into the darkness, but he was cut off by an all too familiar noise._

_All the color drained from Rexs face as the dryer noise rang in his ears, just as loud and as deafening as he remembered it. His eyes snapped wide open as his heart both stopped and kicked into overdrive so fast, it nearly made him sick. His voice caught in his throat and he felt himself start to shake as his breathing sped up, but he shook his head and closed his eyes as he pressed his hands over his ears._

_“You’re at home, Rex. With Emmet and Lucy. You-You aren’t in Dryar, y-you’re at ho-”_

_A shriek tore itself from him as the noise went off again, somehow louder this time, firing off right next to his ear like a cannon. Out of pure instinct, Rex took off running, tripping over himself and scurrying like a frightened mouse away from where he had blindly assumed the noise had come from. He seemed to run forever in the endless dark prison he had been thrust into, keeping to one direction so he wouldn’t lose his already slim bearings. He could feel his lungs begging for air and his legs burning, but he powered through. He couldn’t stop. He had to find somebody, anybody._

_“This isn't possible, this isn't possible,” he chanted quietly to himself. “There is no god damn way this is happening right now! I can’t be back here, I-I-_ **_AAAAA!”_ **

_In a cacophonous symphony of pure terror, the paralyzing noise went off in rapid succession all around him. Each chime of that horrific noise was louder than the last, closer than the last. Rex dropped to his knees and hid his face against his legs, throwing his arms over his head as he tried to block out the noise, but it surrounded him like a vice, closing in on his helplessness. If he was ever asked, he would deny it, but he was crying as he shouted for everything to just PLEASE-_

**_“STOP!”_ **

Rex inhaled as he shot up in bed, breath coming out in hitched sobs and his body trembling with each rapid pant. His eyes scanned over the room in one rapid sweeping motion before his breathing even showed a smidge of slowing down. He was in his room. This was _his_ room in the house where he lived with Emmet and Lucy. He wasn’t anywhere else. He was in _his room._

Slowly, Rex reached over and turned on his desk lamp with a shaking hand, simply sitting under his blankets quietly as he wiped away his tears and willed his breathing back under control. Quiet. It was quiet. Good. That was good. Quiet was safe.

He was safe.

Rex sighed as he stood and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, tucking Junior under his arm as he trudged out into the hallway. Now matter how much he mumbled to himself that it was just a dream, he couldn’t stay in here right now. As safe as the quiet was to him, the room felt too small, too stiff. He felt like he was suffocating in his own space, like the walls could close in at any moment and he would be-

Rex stopped in his tracks with a sound akin to that of a wounded puppy, scratching at his hair to make his brain to focus on something else. He needed to get up and move, partly to make sure that he still _could._

_Might as well watch TV or somethin’,_ he thought, but he paused when he noticed a light coming from the living room. He tilted his head before he took a few steps forward and peeked around the corner, only half surprised to find Emmet sitting on the couch with a blanket over his head and a movie playing on screen.

He seemed to be watching it, but Rex had seen this enough times, hell, had _lived it_ enough times to know better. Emmet wasn’t watching the movie, more so he was just looking at the screen, not really focused on anything before him _._ Even Rex were to turn off the TV, it would take all of ten seconds or more before Emmet came back to reality.

“Poor kid,” Rex mumbled sadly, sneaking into the kitchen. “Might as well be nice tonight, then.”

Shrugging his blanket more securely on his shoulders and depositing Junior carefully on the kitchen table, Rex reached up into the cupboard and pulled down two mugs, one dark blue with a neon green interior and the other light blue with an orange interior. He poured sugar, cocoa powder, and milk into both before slipping them into the microwave, knowing Emmet would be too out of it to notice the sound of it, but just to make sure, Rex made sure to stop it at one second.

After stirring the mugs and popping them in for another thirty seconds, Rex dumped a handful of marshmallows into both (plus a dash of chocolate sauce and swirl of whipped cream for Emmets) and picked them up as carefully as he could with Junior nestled under his arm. He stepped back to the living room and stood between Emmet and the TV, not surprised when he didn’t do much beyond blink.

Rex couldn’t help but grimace as he took in Emmets appearance. The poor kid looked disheveled as all hell, hair messy and eyes bloodshot from crying, evidenced by the tear streaks on his cheeks. He was looking _through_ Rex, staring at nothing as he rested his sullen head in his hands.

_“Joseph.”_

“Huh?”

Emmet blinked back to reality, eyes traveling up to Rex face before they blearily zoned in on the mug that was being held out to him. He still didn’t seem all the way there even as took it gingerly with both hands and he didn’t complain like usual when Rex plopped down on the couch next to him silently. They both sipped at their drinks without so much as a cheery “thank you” or a smarmy “you’re welcome.”

They stayed like that for a minute or two, not talking to each other and keeping their gazes fixed on the TV. The movie on screen wasn’t either of their tastes, really, and it was clear that it was just what was playing when Emmet had turned on the TV, but neither of them made a move to change the channel. It wasn’t exactly silence, but it was comfortable none the less for both of them.

“So,” Rex said eventually, his voice unusually soft. “What was yours about? Same as last night?”

“The one with my speeches failing, yeah,” Emmet muttered, gazing down into his mug. Rex knew there was more to it than that, but he didn’t push. “What about you?”

Emmet wasn’t phased when Rex didn’t respond. He hadn’t even expected him to respond, if he was being honest. His counterpart was never one to talk about his nightmares, let alone his _feelings_ in general, but just as he was about to actually start paying attention to the B-rate movie, he heard Rex speak up.

“I was back in Dryar,” he whispered so quiet Emmet nearly missed it. “I could move, but everything was so _dark._ And that _sound,_ that God awful _sound_ ….it was deafening.”

Emmet glanced over his shoulder at Rex, but Rex didn’t look back. He kept his eyes forward as took a large gulp of his hot chocolate and he certainly didn’t miss how Emmet winced at the action. They both knew it was still basically scalding, but Rex needed his mind focused on something other than the glossiness of his eyes.

“At first, I had no idea what was going on. But then that sound went off and all I could think to do was run for my fucking life. I wanted to call out for one of you but my voice was caught in my chest like I wasn’t allowed access to it. I eventually had to stop, but the noise _didn’t.”_

Emmet watched as his eyes flickered dark blue for the quickest of moments, his expression unchanging as energy crackled off his hair before it fizzled out.

“And then I woke up and came out here with your dork ass.” He gently shoved Emmets shoulder, pulling gentle chuckles from both of them. “So, yeah. It was pretty wild.”

Emmet hummed gently as he nodded. Rexs tone was even and his face was calm, but Emmet knew better. He could see the faint tear tracks trailing down his cheeks and the mistiness of his eyes, how he wouldn’t even spare him a glance. But he kept his mouth shut about it all, knowing better than to push, and instead tilt his mug back so he could get at the leftover whipped cream at the bottom.

They both polished off their treats and set their mugs aside on either end table, too tired to be off put by the synchronized motion. They leaned back and huddled under their respective blankets as Rex snatched up the remote and finally decided to flip it to something more enjoyable, channeling surfing until Emmet excitedly told him to stop.

“Cartoons?” There was amusement in his voice. “Really, Ems?”

Emmet started to look up at Rex with his patented puppy dog eyes, but Rex put his hand over his face.

“Do _not_ start with me, Brickowski, you win. It’s way too late to argue anyways.”

“Thank you, Rex.”

Rex huffed in response as he tossed the remote away and settled into his spot on the couch. It wasn’t like he could complain much anyway. These were old shows from their childhood, he remembered, and they had enough badly drawn explosions and shoddy voice acting to keep Rex interested.

It was no less than about seven minutes into the cheap cartoon that Rex suddenly felt a weight against his shoulder. A quick glance revealed Emmet leaning on him, sleeping peacefully. Rex couldn’t stop the fond smile that came to his lips as he huffed a short laugh, reaching up and gently brushing Emmets hair from his face.

“Sleep tight, Special. After all these years, you’ve earned it.”

Rex stifled a yawn with the back of his hand as he rested his cheek against Emmets hair. Emmet shuffled closer to him in his sleep, worming his way under his blanket as well and prompting Rex to fix it so they were both covered with both blankets. He turned down the TV and allowed himself to get more comfortable, pulling one leg up on the couch as he clutched Junior protectively to his chest with one arm.

He didn’t try to fight off the lull of sleep as it washed over him, only partly aware of Emmets fingers lacing with his as he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

“Hey boys, I’m home! Sorry I was gone for so long, I was-”

Lucy fell silent as she took in the sight before her. Rex and Emmet were positively _knocked out_ one the couch with their once neat blankets now askew, leaning against one another to the point where they looked like one wrong move would send them both toppling to the ground. She pressed her hands to her mouth to muffle her “Awwww,” looking down at where their hands were still loosely intertwined.

“Absolute fucking dorks,” she said with no small hint of affection for both of them, snapping a picture before she quietly walked over to them.

Normally, she would have gently shaken Emmet rouse him while slapping Rex on the back of the neck to wake him up, but she decided to cut them both some slack. She carefully rearranged their blankets before pushing back their bangs and pressing a kiss to both of their foreheads. They smiled the same smile in their sleep and mumbled a “Thank you…” before drifting back off completely.

“Oh, Unikitty’s gonna _love_ this.”

Lucy completely missed how Rexs eyes shot open at the statement.

**Author's Note:**

> “Sleep tight, Special. After all these years, you’ve earned it.”
> 
> I want you all to keep something in mind about this line.  
> Rex didn't say it to just Emmet.
> 
> There's an askblog for this series so you can talk to Rex while you for the next part: https://ask-paradoxus-rex.tumblr.com  
> Got questions about the series itself? You can ask me directly here: https://stutteryprince-difficuties.tumblr.com


End file.
